Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has wondered why the State government is going back on handing over the Krishna projects to the river board after agreeing it even in a meeting with Union Minister of Jal Shakti Gajendra Singh Shekhawat last month.
Speaking on the resolution taken up on against handing over the projects to KRMB in the Assembly on Monday, Floor Leader of the party A. Maheshwar Reddy said the government appeared to be planning to delay the hand over for reasons better known for it. He sought to know why this resolution was brought on to the picture all of a sudden and said there was nothing wrong in handing over projects when the two States were at loggerheads.
He blamed the previous Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) government too stating that it too had committed several mistakes in the matter of Krishna water share of Telangana. It had never spoke against handing over the projects but spoke only about lack of protocols and lack of clarity on water shares of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh.
Floor Leader of the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) Akbaruddin Owaisi sought to know about the fate of 16 projects in Krishna Basin and 10 in Godavari Basin mentioned as the ongoing but unapproved projects in the July 2021 gazette notification on the river boards stating that they would cease to operate in case approvals were not secured within six months. He also faulted the previous government for not claiming water share in tune with catchment area and other parameters.
Communist Party of India (CPI) member K. Sambasiva Rao said mistakes were taking place in the matter of Krishna water share from the beginning and sought why it was agreed only for 299 tmc ft in the first place. The previous government had started talking about 50% share only after people started questioning about its commitment in protecting the State’s interests.
Stating that finding faults with one another won’t serve any purpose, he suggested all parties to come together to protect the interests of Telangana people, for which the State was formed. He also suggested taking up another resolution against illegal projects being taken up by Karnataka in the Krishna Basin.
